Word: qvc
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...board meetings of QVC and CBS approached, the Robertses summoned Lazard Freres investment bankers Steven Rattner and Felix Rohatyn to Comcast's Philadelphia offices on Friday, July 8. Rattner flew in from Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, and Rohatyn was fetched in a Comcast plane from his summer retreat on Long Island, New York. The talk centered on financing the Comcast bid, with Brian Roberts nonetheless repeatedly asking, "Are we doing this only because we're angry?" After securing a $1 billion line of credit from the Bank of New York last Monday, the Robertses were ready to strike. They began...
...Robertses' dismay, the merger with CBS would have sliced Comcast's 15% stake in QVC to 4.9% of the new company; even though the Robertses would have profited handsomely from the deal, it would have left them with little voice in the fate of the shopping network they had nurtured. Moreover, regulations limiting cross-ownership would have kept Comcast, the nation's third largest cable-TV operator with revenues of $1.3 billion, from ever taking a seat on the merged company's board or increasing its holdings beyond 5%. "We were open with Barry about our predicament because of government...
...Robertses' bid ruptured a partnership with Diller that began when Brian Roberts brought the former head of Paramount studios and Fox broadcasting to QVC in December 1992. "Brian was very taken with Barry," says a cable-TV executive, "because when Barry turns on the charm, he can be quite impressive and effective. You have this older guy and this younger kid, and what really must have hurt is when Barry did an about-face. If he had gone to the Robertses and made them feel a part of the CBS deal, this might not have happened...
Still, Diller haggled with CBS over the treatment of options to buy 6 million shares of QVC stock. While Diller wanted to swap half the options for new ones in the merged company, Tisch balked at raising the issue before the deal was complete. Diller dropped his request, but it rankled the Tisch camp. "After they got engaged," says a source close to Tisch, "Diller demanded the dowry...
...that hardly ends the story. Diller seemed prepared to foil Comcast last week by actively seeking higher offers for QVC from telephone companies and other cable concerns. And even if no one else comes along, Diller can console himself with the $100 million or so that he stands to make by selling his QVC holdings to Comcast. But that is not likely to calm a restless Diller. "Barry's not a pig," says his close friend Diane Von Furstenberg. "The money is a consequence, but not his first goal. Barry has always fulfilled his dreams...